This invention relates to a method for handling metallic scrap material and baling the same nominally into cubes for subsequent melting into molten metal.
The present day methods and apparatus for handling and baling medium sized pieces of metallic scrap material have included the piling of such scrap material on a large pile adjacent a baling press and feeding the press with large and expensive cranes that pick up the material magnetically or by means of a grabbing bucket or claws that lift the material and transfer it over and dump it into the opening to the charge box of the baling press. The presses used in such systems are capable of compacting the material from one or more different directions (generally three directions), so as to compress the raw material into a bale which is then ejected from the press. One such press is that being manufactured and sold by the Harris Press and Shear Corporation of St. Paul, Minn. In some instances, the presses have located directly over the charge box a weigh hopper which weighs the amount of the material and automatically dispenses the same into the baling press in response to a certain weight activating the baling cycle.
The known systems with the apparatus as above described is very expensive, particularly because of the cost of the crane. Also, such systems are relatively slow as a result of limitations of the baling press operator and the limitations of the crane and its operator. Accordingly, the known systems, which utilize a baling machine having a manufacturer's rated capacity of a 40-second cycle to compress the material in all three directions and dispense the material in the shape of a cube, usually takes one minute and thirty to forty seconds to complete the production of one cube. This excess production time is caused by the human factor.
I have conceived of an entirely new system, which, although it is comprised of well-known components, produces a bale in one minute or less. Further, the apparatus used in this system is substantially less expensive.